Plastic Bronchitis and Human Bocavirus: A Report of Three Cases

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to investigate and analyze the clinical features of coexisting human bocavirus (HBoV) positivity and plastic bronchitis (PB). We present three cases with no known history of cardiac surgery who presented with cough, progressive dyspnea, and atelectasis. They tested positive for HBoV in a real-time polymerase chain reaction of both nasal lavage fluids. They were diagnosed with PB as a result of bronchoscopy and pathology. PB is a rare disease characterized by forming thick rigid casts in the tracheobronchial tree, which can progress to respiratory failure. While asthma or atopy-related type 1 PB was observed in one patient, two patients were diagnosed with PB, which was thought to have developed secondary to viral infections of unknown etiology. As far as we know, HBoV-associated PB cases are rare in the literature. Besides the commonly known infectious agents, we identified a relationship with HBoV in all the presented cases.